Since when have we Americans been expected to bow submissively to authority and speak with awe and reverence to those who represent us? – William O. Douglas

“How dare you subject the rest of the world to your loathsome view of humanity”

(CBS) The latest CBS News poll finds President Bush’s approval rating has fallen to an all-time low of 34 percent, while pessimism about the Iraq war has risen to a new high.

Americans are also overwhelmingly opposed to the Bush-backed deal giving a Dubai-owned company operational control over six major U.S. ports. Seven in 10 Americans, including 58 percent of Republicans, say they’re opposed to the agreement.

CBS News senior White House correspondent Jim Axelrod reports that now it turns out the Coast Guard had concerns about the ports deal, a disclosure that is no doubt troubling to a president who assured Americans there was no security risk from the deal.

The good news is not that Bush’s poll numbers are at an historic low. The good news and to some extent the bad news is the reasons for those numbers. They don’t like the port deal, the public doesn’t think Bush cares about them ( while Katrina was the match that lit the fire, it showed in dozens of other ways that the majority of Americans previously gave Bush a pass on, Bush’s Fiscal Meltdown, The Bush Scorecard. Its understandable that progressive minded Americans would find Bush’s record disgusting, but if we’re to believe the last fourty years of conservative spin, other then irresponsible tax cuts, its difficult to see how a true conservative could still support him.

Prosecutors call it a corruption case with no parallel in the long history of the U.S. Congress. And it keeps getting worse. Convicted Rep. Randall “Duke” Cunningham actually priced the illegal services he provided.

Prices came in the form of a “bribe menu” that detailed how much it would cost contractors to essentially order multimillion-dollar government contracts, according to documents submitted by federal prosecutors for Cunningham’s sentencing hearing this Friday. […]

The sentencing memorandum includes the California Republican’s “bribery menu” on one of his congressional note cards, “starkly framed” under the seal of the United States Congress.

The card shows an escalating scale for bribes, starting at $140,000 and a luxury yacht for a $16 million Defense Department contract. Each additional $1 million in contract value required a $50,000 bribe.

Just two headlines from right-wing sites without comment, “Democracy Angst — What’s the alternative to promoting freedom in the Middle East?” and “Give Civil War a Chance“.

“What it means is he rings the bells of people who represent the true believers in the Democratic Party,” said Andrew Kohut, a non-partisan pollster for the Pew Research Center. “The question is, what is the breadth of his appeal to other Democratic constituencies whose opinions are not as tightly stitched together?”

At a time when the practice of politics online is growing, Feingold clearly sees the “netroots” as integral to the sort of long-shot campaign he may be waging against more established Democrats.

In an interview last fall, Feingold political aide George Aldrich said the Internet “has a huge impact in terms of leveling the playing field for the candidates that don’t have huge financial networks, but can develop one pretty quickly if the netroots community gets behind them.”

To cultivate such support, Feingold has an Internet coordinator on his political staff, consults with a team of Internet advisers, has held conference calls with Democratic-leaning bloggers, offers downloadable video podcasts, and allows supporters to vote online for which congressional candidates should receive contributions from Feingold’s political committee.

I know that Senator Feingold’s presence on the net has had an effect on at least one person, me. I like Wes Clarke, but after reading Feingold’s posts at Talking Points Memo and Kos, and seeing a couple of speeches on C-Span the senator has moved up to tie Wes in my own poll.

I understand the sentiment, but impeaching Bush would be a mistake, via King of Zembla The Case for Impeachment,Why we can no longer afford George W. Bush.
Impeaching Bush would just make him a martyr. If you think unsupportable virtues are assigned to him now, just watch what happens during the impeachment hearings. In the course of fight to impeach Bush, the Bush side will get a bloody nose and a busted lip, the progressive side and moderate conservatives who join in will get a broken leg on which they will hobble through the next two election cycles. Censure Bush, but don’t create an impeachment martyr.

This goes against my own conventional wisdom, I study major purchasing decisions and note all the pros and cons, but I don’t tend to agonize over them too much. Get the facts make a choice. Though there’s much to be said for gathering up a lot of information, then putting it aside and allowing your intuition to take over. ‘Follow your gut,’ study advises on big decisions

PRETTY WOMAN
I thought it was you.
BARRIS(bowing)
It’s me.
PRETTY WOMAN
I’m glad to meet you because I wanted to
tell you that I’ve seen The Gong Show and
I think you are the most insidious and
despicable force in entertainment today.
BARRIS
Well —
PRETTY WOMAN
How dare you subject the rest of the
world to your loathsome view of humanity.
BARRIS
I don’t think it’s that loathsome.
PRETTY WOMAN
What is it then? To mock some poor,
lonely people who just crave a little
attention in their lives. To destroy
them. So everybody’s not brilliantly
talented. They’re still people. They
deserve respect and compassion. I mean,
who the hell are you? What the fuck have
you ever done that elevates you above the
pathetic masses? Oh, I forgot, you
created The Dating Game. Wow, right up
there with the Sistine Chapel. I guess
that’s what gives you the right to…
from the screenplay CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND by Charlie Kaufman based on
CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND an unauthorized biography by
Chuck Barris